France’s aid to Ukraine is no longer limited to armaments. Since the start of 2023, several thousand Ukrainian soldiers have been trained by the French Army on our territory. We were able to follow a contingent of Ukrainian soldiers during an internship in a French military camp which we will keep secret.
Automatic weapons crackle. Smoke bombs are thrown. The landscape is lunar and the trenches are more real than life. We are not on the front, but on the training ground of a French military camp. The soldiers training there today are Ukrainians.
These images were confidential, until today. They bear witness to France’s role in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. For a month, these soldiers, without any front-line experience, were trained in French infantry techniques.
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Aged 40 to 50, these future Ukrainian soldiers are taking up arms to support the war effort in their country. With 30 kg of equipment and weapons on their backs, they carry out maneuvers in a French forest
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©FTV
“They have to take the entire network of trenches. They search, one by one, the combat posts to see if there is any intelligence, transmissions and others.” These orders issued by a French officer are immediately translated into Ukrainian.
After this quick briefing, the soldiers apply the instructions of the French trainers.
“What we especially want to instill in them is the importance of fire support. Before approaching an objective, we ask for support: artillery or machine gun fire, but we also have to coordinate these different elements. An element of “support posted in the woods opens fire first, then an assault element which will be able to seize the trenches more easily”, explains Captain Michel.
This collaboration between France and Ukraine made it possible to train 7,000 soldiers this year. Tailor-made training, depending on the terrain. Here for example, future fighters must recognize a crossroads. The technique seems mastered.
“Initially, we had to be everywhere, to take over individual know-how, explain tactics to them, help them command, but now we are retreating more and more to let them take the reins of their units.”confides, with a touch of pride, the captain in charge of their training.
Aged 40 to 50, these future Ukrainian soldiers are taking up arms to support the war effort in their country. With 30 kg of equipment and weapons on their backs, they carry out maneuvers in this French forest. Objective of this other exercise: react to an ambush.
“They were smart, they carried out their action well. Rather than being surprised by the enemy, they surprised the enemy. That’s very good!” explains the French captain again.
The four-week training ends with the assault of a village, an urban area, where several combat units attack in a coordinated manner.
“Above all, they come to look for other methods, other tactical processes. They learn our Western methods to shake up things on the front, so as to have other tactical schemes to develop.”explains Colonel Even.
In other words, the idea is, for Ukraine, to save its fighters as much as possible, unlike the Russian army which does not spare its troops.
Back in their country, these soldiers have already joined the front, where fighting has raged for almost two years and the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.